I want to spend five weeks on the major theological doctrines in the Bible. First, we will examine the Sovereignty and Providence of God. This is so important. If I had understood this 25 years ago, it would have saved me a lot of heartache. Isaiah 45: 7: "I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil. I the LORD do all these things." This verse supports the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. God is in charge, not you. You cannot manipulate Him, coerce Him, or control Him in any way. I remember being in a debate with an Oxford Ph.D. on this subject. He had a more Deist view of God. His view was that God set laws and principles in motion and then allowed our free will to control the vents of the earth. My response to him was, "You need a bigger God." However, we need to take a closer look at the phrase "create evil." “And create evil”—the word evil does not mean wickedness in this instance, but rather “sorrow, difficulties, or tragedies”—those things which are the fruit of evil, the fruit of sin. This is the Old Testament way of saying, “The wages of sin is death …” (Rom. 6:23). If you indulge in sin, there will be a payday for it! So God, while the author of world events, does not create evil. However, He will use the difficulties of life to draw men to Him. Don't interfere.
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